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VMware Hybrid Cloud Extension (HCX) Network Ports

I’d like to share a high-resolution network ports diagram of VMware Hybrid Cloud Extension service (previously known as HCX) that I have been working on this week. If you are considering using Hybrid Cloud Extension to solve your hybrid cloud challenges then this PDF would look great on any 4k monitor or perhaps printed for the office wall!

The first thing to notice is that HCX abstracts the underlying vSphere architecture which means that between the source and destination data centers, there is no direct communication (E.g. vMotion) between vSphere ESXi hosts.

VMware Hybrid Cloud Extension allows enterprises to overcome some of the challenges with moving to the cloud. Cloud Providers with the VMware Hybrid Cloud Extension (HCX) service can provide a true hybrid-cloud experience for workload portability, agility, disaster recovery and business continuity. This allows cloud providers to take the lead with hybrid cloud solutions, abstracting customer on-premises and cloud resources as one seamless cloud. No changes are required on the source network infrastructure, eliminating complexity for tenants of the cloud platform.

Don’t just think of Hybrid Cloud Extension as just a workload migration tool. One of the fundamental components of Hybrid Cloud Extension is the ability to provide a layer 2 extension of the customer data center to the cloud. This provides the basis for cross-cloud mobility allowing for any-to-any vSphere zero downtime migrations, seamless disaster recovery, and enabling hybrid architecture.

While migration is probably the most common use-case, there are many other challenges that are solved. Firstly, unlike professional services led migrations that often require costly and time-consuming workload assessments, cloud providers can provide an end-to-end service without the much of the additional complexity involved in the past. Another use-case allows migrations from legacy to next-generation environments, that are complex due to different versions of the underlying infrastructure (vSphere).

To learn more about Hybrid Cloud Service, visit https://cloud.vmware.com or contact your VMware partner business manager.

About Ray Heffer

Ray Heffer is a Staff Cloud Solutions Architect and End-User Computing (EUC) lead for VMware. He has over 20 years experience in the industry and has been awarded vExpert 2011-2017 including vExpert-Cloud. Ray is also a Double VCDX certification holder #122 (Desktop and Data Center Virtualization) and a panelist on the VCDX program.
Follow Ray on Twitter @rayheffer

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News about the vCloud Architecture Toolkit. vCAT is a set of documents you can use to better understand both the principles upon which VMware’s cloud strategy is executed, and the mechanics for you to implement your own cloud infrastructure.